Roundup: A bill drawn up by deranged constitutional saboteurs

Posted on by

The fallout of the rollout of Danielle Smith’s “Alberta Sovereignty in a United Canada Act” carried on for much of the day, starting with a “clarification” that the province’s justice department sent out, but it didn’t clarify anything because it contradicted the plain language of the text, and I am forced to wonder why we aren’t seeing a raft of resignations because this whole affair has been an egregious, unconstitutional omnishambles from the get go. (From bean to cup…)

For his part, Justin Trudeau is keeping his powder dry and standing well back. While he said nothing is “off the table,” but added that he’s not looking to pick a fight, he knows full well that a fight is what Smith wants, because that’s what she hopes to use to leverage support in the next election, because there is a demographic in Alberta who likes the attitude of pugilism with the federal government, even though most of the grievances are imaginary or overblown. And no, he is not going to invoke disallowance on this because it’s a constitutional dead letter and would be provoking an even bigger constitutional crisis. But I also get the sense that “disallowance” is the new “Emergencies Act” that the press gallery in Ottawa is going to ask Trudeau about at every single opportunity, like they did through the height of the pandemic. But seriously, Gretchen—stop trying to make disallowance happen. It’s not going to happen. As for what Trudeau will do, I suspect it’ll be a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada after the bill receives royal assent, whenever that happens.

https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/1597961310779891713

For commentary on the bill, law professor Eric Adams lists the bill’s many unconstitutional aspects which will result in court cases, one way or the other. Emmett Macfarlane pulls no punches in calling it the most unconstitutional bill in modern history, goes through the many problems, and asserts that the bill was “drawn up by deranged constitutional saboteurs,” and he’s right. David Moscrop points out that the bill gives Smith a temporary win by harnessing populist forces to her benefit, where she can play victim when the courts eventually strike this down. Colby Cosh doesn’t take Smith at her word that she hopes never to use this legislation, and hopes that people can cool down before this escalates.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 281:

Fighting continues both in the east, as Russians continue to try and advance to Bakhmut, and near Kherson in the south. Meanwhile, nine people were killed by fire over a 24-hour period as they tried to find ways of providing heat, and it didn’t go very well for an of them.

Good reads:

  • At a speaking engagement, Justin Trudeau said that the West can show people in China who disagree with the regime that there are “other ways of doing things.”
  • Trudeau also said that the $500 million in Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds has been fully subscribed (but you can still purchase them).
  • The government has named an expert panel to review the Cannabis Act as part of its statutory review.
  • The CRA’s recovery task for clawbacks and collection of fraudulently collected CERB payments, often tied to identity theft, is a massive operation for the agency.
  • Two former CSIS directors told the public inquiry that the CSIS definition of what constitutions a national security threat is not relevant to the Emergencies Act.
  • The RCMP found an arsenal on the property of one of the men arrested at the Coutts blockade, and that they were preparing for “war.”
  • Statistics Canada says that Canada has the most highly educated workforce in the G7, which negatively impacts skilled immigrants.
  • Heather Scoffield points to the mortgage stress test that has proven prescient for our current higher-interest rate environment, but worries about the sector overall.
  • Shannon Proudfoot summarises the Ottawa LRT inquiry report in her signature style.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.